The venture capital firm has raised the fund with commitment from global institutional LPs
Lightspeed India Partners announced the close of its third investment fund for early, seed, and Series A investments, ‘Lightspeed India Partners III,’ after raising US$275 million in committed capital from Limited Partnerships (LPs), the company announced in a press release dated August 17.
This is the Silicon Valley-based company’s third India-focused fund. In 2015, Lightspeed raised its first India-dedicated fund of $135 million, followed by a second fund of $175 million in 2018. The new capital will be deployed in the last quarter of 2020, according to an Economic Times report.
According to the company statement, Lightspeed will use this fund to assist entrepreneurs in disrupting markets and excelling in the startup ecosystem. The firm focuses on the Enterprise and Consumer sectors, but did not provide details pertaining to how this fund would be used.
Focused on early stage seed and Series A investments, Lightspeed India has invested over US$750 million in the country since its inception in 2007, and provided a foundation for the growth of leading companies, including OYO, BYJU’s and Udaan. The company has joined hands with startups in early stages, some in their pre-product or pre-traction stages previously, and supports them throughout their growth lifecycles.
Lightspeed invested US$20 million in Yellow Messenger, a cloud platform, in April earlier this year. Its most noteworthy exits include Oyo, which yielded US$ 850 million for the company, and Byju’s, which allowed the company to raise US$70-80 million. Other exits include ItzCash, which was acquired by Ebix to become Ebixcash, and Tutor Vista, which was acquired by Pearson.
Lightspeed believes that in the light of COVID-19, establishing a company has become significantly tougher, and remains committed to its cause of supporting founders in India by leveraging its global network, customer partnerships, talent acquisition skills, and growth capital. With a capital pool of over US$3 billion raised in global funds, the company aims to assist entrepreneurs in developing groundbreaking ideas to build companies of the future.
Lightspeed India Vice President Shuvi Shrivastava has previously said that “the biggest barriers to success are internal” and that she “derive[s] a lot of meaning from helping founders overcome their fears and self-doubt to dream bigger.”
India has the third-largest startup ecosystem globally, following only the U.S. and China. Its digital ecosystem is rapidly growing, encouraging the emergence of new ventures and business models in the country.
With the belief that startups in the country are still lacking broader operational support from VCs, Lightspeed has expanded its Lightspeed India Advisors partnership over the past few years to include investors based out of Delhi and Bengaluru, who bring a wide range of skills, experiences, and qualifications to the table.
Lightspeed India has also broadened its portfolio service teams in areas such as executive recruiting, marketing, and customer introductions. Furthermore, the global Lightspeed platform, with professionals across India, Silicon Valley, Israel, China, Southeast Asia and Europe, provides companies and advisors with an international perspective as well as expansion opportunities.
In addition to Lightspeed, a number of venture capital funds are investing in India, such as Roots Ventures and 100X VC. The Government of India provides startups in the country with substantial support by means of schemes in various sectors, attracting major investments such as Google’s plan to invest US$10 billion over the next few years.
